Rail-joint.



C. HBRNDON. B AIL JOINT. Y APPLICATION FILED APB.22, 1.913. l

' Batente Jul-51,21, 1914.

A s @w ATTORNEY capable of gripping UMTED STATES PATENT orricn.

CALAWAY HERNDON, 0F WAGONEB, (.'BIKLAHOIWIA.l

RAIL-JOINT.

Specification of- Letters Patent. Application illed April 22, 1913..Serial No. 762,878.

Patented July 21, 1914.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CALAWAY HERNDON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Wagoner, in the county of Vagoner and State of Oklahoma,have invented a new and useful Rail-Joint, of' which the following is aspecification.

'The invention relates to improvements in rail joints.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction ofrail joints, and to provide a simple, practical and inexpensive railjoint chair of strong and durable construction, capable of securelyholding the rails, and of permitting free expansion and contraction ofthe same.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rail joint chair ofthis character the opposite sides of the rails beneath the head and atthe base, and adapted to be adjusted to take up the wear of the parts,and capable also of operating as a springI lock for retaining the nutsagainst rotary movement on the bolts.

The invention also has for its object to provide a rail joint chair,adapted to oe employed as a temporary joint for repairing broken rails,and equipped with spike receiving openings arranged to permit the headsof the spike to engage both the bottom portion ofthe chair and thebottom flanges of the rails and having outer end walls for support-ingor holding the spike against movement laterally o therails, wherebyspreading of the rails is efectually pre.

In the drawing: Figure 1 is a perspective 'View of a rail joint,constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2is a horizontalsectional View of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse 'sectional view,taken on the line 3-3' of Fig. 2 and illustrating the arrangement of theinner and outer spikes.

Like numerals of reference designate cor- -t'aces with longitudinalkthrough enlarged openings -bottoin portion openings, which extendthrough thelower i Y responding parts in all thefigures of the drawing.

In the accompanying drawing in which is illustrated 'the preferredembodiment of the invention, the rail joint chair, which' consists of asingle piece of metal, is of substantially uniform thickness and iscomposed of a horizontal bottom plate 1 and integral sides 2 of angularformation and consisting of inclined lower portions 3 andsubstantially., vertical upper portions 4. The horizontal' bottom plate1 presents flat upper and lower faces to cross ties 5, and bottomflanges 6 of rails 7 The lower inclined portions 3 of the sides of thechair extend upwardly and inwardly and tit -against the upper faceslofthe sidev flanges vertical portions 4 extend upwardly rom the inclinedlower ortions 2 and lit against the underside of tie head of the rails,as clearly illust-rated in Fig. 3 of the drawing. By this construction,the rails are firmly engaged beneath the head and at the base and aresecurely clamped b the chair. The upper portions 4 are provi ed attheirl inner oves or recesses 8, forming upper and ower longitudinalribs or projecting portions 9 and 10, which are arranged in spaced webof the rail, whereby when the engaging portions of the sides of thechair become worn through the vibration incident to the travel of trainsover the rail joint, the -wear may be taken up by drawing the sidesinwardly toward the web by transverse bolts l1. The bolts 11, which areprovided with nuts 12, extend through registering openrelation with the'ings 13'in the sides of ldie chair and also pass 14 in the webs of therails. The openings 14 are of suilicient size to permit the freeexpansion and contraction of the rails due to changes in temperature.The sides of the rail joint have sufficient resiliency to enable them tobe sprung inwardly by the bolts and nuts, and they are adapted to exerta spring aetion on the saine to maintain them in tight frictionalengagement wit-h the bolt-s and the nuts to prevent the saine from beingloosened through the vibration of the rail joint. j

The chair is secured to the cross ties 5 by inner and outer spikes 15and 16, arranged in inner and outer openings 17 and 1S in the of thera1l chair. The inner sides to the lower faces of the said bottominclined portions 3 and the'bottom'portion 1 of the chair, have enlargedupper portions 19, formed in the sides ofthe chair and extendinginwardlytransversely of the rail joint'and being of sufficient size topermit the heads of the inner spikes to directly engage the bottomflanges 6 of the rails, as clearly illustrated at the right hand side ofFig. 3 of the drawing. The enlarged upper portions 19 of the inner,openings form recesses in the inclined portions 3 of the sides of thechair and expose the ,side edges of' the bottom flanges of the railsthereat. The inner spikes are supported and maintained in engagementwith the bottom fianges of the rails by the outer end Walls of the inneropenings, the said outer end Walls being formed by the bottom plate 1and preventing outward movement of the inner spikes in a directionlaterally of the rails and prevent spreading yof the said rails. Theinner openings 17 also present side walls to the spikes and by formingenlarged openings in the inclined portions of the sides of the chairI.to permit vthe heads of the ,spikes to engage the bottom flanges of therails, the spikes are permitted to sink deeper into the cross ties andtheir holding power is thereby increased. Also by terminating the inneropenings short of the marginal projecting portions of the bottom, theouter end walls of the said inner openings extend from the upper facesof the inclined portions of the chair. The openings 18 for the outerspikes are spaced from the bottom fianges of' the rails and are formedin the projecting marginal portions of the bottom of' the chair. 'lheoutermarginal portions form horizontal longitudinal flanges, which arearranged in the same plane as the intermediate portion of the chair, andthe heads of the spikes 16 engage the rail chair, the spikes being. suported and maintained in such engagement y the outer end walls of theopening 18, as clearly illustrated at theleft hand side lof Fig. 3 ofthe drawing. The outer end walls of the openings 1S preof the bottom ofthe vvent movement of the outer spikes in a direction transversely ofthe rails.

The inner and outer spikes securely fastenthe rails to the cross tiesand enable the chair to be advantageously employed as a temporary railjoint for repairing broken rails, and it. will securely hold the ends ofthe same without the aid of the transverse bolts 11. In assembling theparts, the rail joint is slipped on the end of one o the rails and movedlongitudinally thereof to permit the ends of the rails to be broughttogether, and it is then moved longitudinally to engage it with theother rail, the ends of the rails being located centrally of the chair.

What is claimed is In a rail joint, the combinationl with rails, of achair consisting of a single piece and y comprising a bottom plate andintegral sides composed of inclined lower portions, the bottom platebeing extended laterally beyond the sides to form projecting ianges, andthe said chair bein provided with inner and outer spike receivingopenings, the inner openings extending through the inclined portions ofthe sides and the bottom plate at the side edges of the rails and havingtransversely enlarged upper portions forming recesses in the inclinedportions of the sides, so as to expose the side fianges of the rails topermit the heads of the spikes to directly engage the rails, therebyenabling the spikes to sink deeper into the cross ties and presentingside and outer end walls to the spikes, the outer end walls extendingfrom the upper faces of the said inclined portions to the lower face ofthe bottom plate, and thev said outer openings being formed in thelaterally projecting side flanges of the bottom plate and presentingside and outer end walls to the spikes.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have heretoaflixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

CALAVVAY HERN DON Witnesses:

` Roir M. FRANks,

It. I-I. Conn.

